Our car pulls up at the end of our middle day of touring with us happy with our daily diet of temples and pyramids. Even the ferocious heat does little to dampen our enthusiasm. Last night we stayed overnight at a tented camp at Meroe. The tents were spacious, had real beds and electricity and we had our own bathroom with toilet and shower. The meal was superb (sans alcohol in this strictly Muslim country). Today we are treated to a resort in the desert on the edge of town with massive elegant rooms arranged in beatiful gardens around a massive manicured green lawn. I had to blink twice just in case it was a mirage.
Up before sunrise the next morning we walk across to the sacred mountain, Jebel Barkal. We eventually locate the path and make the steep ascent in time for sunrise. We are not at any great height but the view is breathtaking. The sinuous Nile arcs lazily through the landscape with its obligatory cuff of green date palms and crops that comes to an abrupt end at the desert. The little market town of Karima is awakening on the south bank of the Nile and around to the west of this massive rock in the desert is yes, you guessed it,another cluster of picture perfect pyramids.This country never ceases to amaze me!
